What Problems Could Occur With The Spleen?

In certain diseased conditions doctors may recommend removing the spleen, especially when it becomes greatly enlarged. There is a case on record where the spleen increased from six ounces to twenty pounds, an increase of fiftyfold! It. was as if the woman was carrying a large baby in her abdomen! But this is rare. In fact, tumours so rarely affect the spleen that it has been described as anti cancerous.

Today most operations for removing the spleen are due to severe accidents, such as those caused by auto crashes or skiing mishaps. If the capsule of the spleen gets ruptured, the blood will spill into the abdomen, and an operation may be necessary to keep the patient from bleeding to death. Or it may be damaged inside the capsule, causing it to fill up with blood until the capsule breaks, with similar fatal results possible. On the other hand, in shock, when the blood seems to disappear from circulation for apparently no reason and the patient becomes deathly pale and loses consciousness, it has been found that the spleen becomes distended with blood.